It's going to be a "plug in hybrid" ...... Expect it in the all new Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura next year...

GM plans a plug-in hybrid vehicle
Bloomberg News

Published: June 23, 2006

LOS ANGELES General Motors, losing sales to fuel-efficient cars from Toyota Motor, is developing a hybrid- electric vehicle with a battery that recharges at any outlet, GM executives familiar with the plan said.

The so-called plug-in hybrid would travel more than 60 miles on a gallon of gasoline, or 3.92 liters per 100 kilometers, said the executives, who asked not to be identified because the research is secret.

GM, which had the first modern electric car in 1996, the EV1, lags behind Toyota in hybrids, which combine electric motors and gasoline engines.

A 28 percent rise in U.S. gasoline prices this year helped bolster sales of the Toyota gasoline-electric models by 37 percent, giving the Japanese automaker almost three-fourths of U.S. retail hybrid sales. GM does not make market competing vehicles now.

Automakers are trying to raise fuel efficiency as U.S. lawmakers consider tougher requirements for cars and trucks.

"There is rising regulatory demand and consumer demand for improved fuel economy and lower emissions," said John Casesa, an auto analyst at the New York-based Casesa Shapiro Group. "There's a lot of pressure to show you're responsive."

The plug-in designs that GM is testing may be ready in time for the Detroit auto show in January, the executives said.

Any commercial production is at least a year away, they said, while declining to say how much the company was investing.

Chris Preuss, a spokesman for GM, declined to comment on any plans or research involving a plug-in hybrid.

Plug-in hybrids recharge when the vehicle is not in use. Automakers quit making cars powered solely by batteries in the late 1990s because they were expensive and needed recharging for as long as six hours to travel 75 miles, or 120 kilometers.

"Range is not an issue with a plug-in hybrid because you always have the engine if you need it," said Bruce Belzowski, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Regular hybrids use friction from braking and power from the internal combustion engine to recharge the batteries that drive electric motor. The motor is used at start-up and lower speeds, and the engine powers the vehicle at higher speeds.

Fuel economy in the GM car will significantly exceed 60 miles a gallon, the officials said, declining to be specific. The Toyota Prius, the best-selling hybrid, is rated at 55 miles a gallon in combined city and highway driving. The Prius does not use plug-in technology.

Toyota, which is second to GM in vehicle sales worldwide, plans to spend a record ¥920 billion, or $7.9 billion, on research and development this year. GM spent $6.7 billion last year and has not released a 2006 figure.

LOS ANGELES General Motors, losing sales to fuel-efficient cars from Toyota Motor, is developing a hybrid- electric vehicle with a battery that recharges at any outlet, GM executives familiar with the plan said.

The so-called plug-in hybrid would travel more than 60 miles on a gallon of gasoline, or 3.92 liters per 100 kilometers, said the executives, who asked not to be identified because the research is secret.

GM, which had the first modern electric car in 1996, the EV1, lags behind Toyota in hybrids, which combine electric motors and gasoline engines.

A 28 percent rise in U.S. gasoline prices this year helped bolster sales of the Toyota gasoline-electric models by 37 percent, giving the Japanese automaker almost three-fourths of U.S. retail hybrid sales. GM does not make market competing vehicles now.

Automakers are trying to raise fuel efficiency as U.S. lawmakers consider tougher requirements for cars and trucks.

"There is rising regulatory demand and consumer demand for improved fuel economy and lower emissions," said John Casesa, an auto analyst at the New York-based Casesa Shapiro Group. "There's a lot of pressure to show you're responsive."

The plug-in designs that GM is testing may be ready in time for the Detroit auto show in January, the executives said.

Any commercial production is at least a year away, they said, while declining to say how much the company was investing.

Chris Preuss, a spokesman for GM, declined to comment on any plans or research involving a plug-in hybrid.

Plug-in hybrids recharge when the vehicle is not in use. Automakers quit making cars powered solely by batteries in the late 1990s because they were expensive and needed recharging for as long as six hours to travel 75 miles, or 120 kilometers.

"Range is not an issue with a plug-in hybrid because you always have the engine if you need it," said Bruce Belzowski, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Regular hybrids use friction from braking and power from the internal combustion engine to recharge the batteries that drive electric motor. The motor is used at start-up and lower speeds, and the engine powers the vehicle at higher speeds.

Fuel economy in the GM car will significantly exceed 60 miles a gallon, the officials said, declining to be specific. The Toyota Prius, the best-selling hybrid, is rated at 55 miles a gallon in combined city and highway driving. The Prius does not use plug-in technology.

Toyota, which is second to GM in vehicle sales worldwide, plans to spend a record ¥920 billion, or $7.9 billion, on research and development this year. GM spent $6.7 billion last year and has not released a 2006 figure

hypersensitiveZO6

06-28-2006, 11:14 AM

no more ****ing smug.

source: http://www.piczo.com/allaboutsouthpark?g=10582967&cr=3

burt

06-28-2006, 11:19 AM

now how did I know who posted this....without looking?

Donger

06-28-2006, 11:21 AM

Weren't you warned about these kind of threads recently?

recxjake

06-28-2006, 11:23 AM

Weren't you warned about these kind of threads recently?

This is very interesting news... it will have the best m.p.g of any car available... how is this any different then someone posting about Chryslers tiny little car, or GM's 30,000 buyout?

htismaqe

06-28-2006, 11:23 AM

Yep, he was.

FAX

06-28-2006, 11:23 AM

I would like to cancel my subscription to the Mr. recxjake Daily GM Update, please.

FAX

htismaqe

06-28-2006, 11:24 AM

This is very interesting news... it will have the best m.p.g of any car available... how is this any different then someone posting about Chryslers tiny little car, or GM's 30,000 buyout?